Political Writer/Cartoonist Ted Rall Predicts the End of the World as We Know It

Ted Rall says the end of world as we know it is near. According to his vision, the economy will continue to deteriorate, the government will disintegrate, and the United States will either break apart into mini-fiefdoms or be ruled by a neo-fascist junta.

Rall is not a fortune teller. He doesn't claim to have any unique insight into Armageddon from the New Testament's Book of Revelations or any other religious texts, and he isn't receiving prophecies from God. Rall is a writer and a political cartoonist whose controversial illustrations and columns have been published in newspapers such as the L.A. Times, The New York Times and The Washington Post.

He is also a self-described Marxist who blames global free market capitalism for causing global warming and oppressing most of the human race. In recent years, Rall has advocated for the overthrow of the government, both on his blog and in his latest book, published in 2010, titled The Anti-American Manifesto. His main argument for a revolution: Better to replace a decaying system before it implodes on its own. Otherwise, left-wing activists should be prepared to organize when society starts to buckle.

"Things are happening very fast," Rall said last night at his event at Sweat Records. "I think the

system is headed toward collapse anyway."

But before that happens, Rall wants to get the participants of

the Occupy Wall Street movement, which the 48-year-old cartoonist called

the most "important political movements of my lifetime," to decide whether they want to reform the system, or replace it -- before OWS fizzles out

completely. "I don't have another 40 years to wait for something else

this cool to pop up," Rall said of Occupy. "And I don't think the planet